Overall crime decreases in Prince George, with increases in some categories

Monday

Jan 27, 2014 at 12:01 AM

PRINCE GEORGE - Overall crime in the county has declined over the past year. Sex offenses were cut in half, but drug offenses showed one of the largest increases. Crime decreased by a total of 6.5 percent in 2013, with violent crime dipping by 9.09 perc

PRINCE GEORGE - Overall crime in the county has declined over the past year. Sex offenses were cut in half, but drug offenses showed one of the largest increases.

Crime decreased by a total of 6.5 percent in 2013, with violent crime dipping by 9.09 percent and property crime declining by 13.3 percent.

The figures were based on incidents reported last year.

Police Chief Ed Frankenstein said that the numbers did not reflect convictions.

The only two types of violent crime that increased were kidnapping and aggravated assault, which occurred a total of 24 times in 2013.

The sole kidnapping incident occurred Aug. 25, 2013, when an inmate at Riverside Regional Jail was returning to the jail from work release. An African-American man approached the inmate for a cigarette, then jumped into the back of the inmate's car and demanded him to drive away, according to authorities.

The inmate refused long enough for a passing driver in the jail's parking lot to notice the two arguing and call out to the suspect in the back seat. The suspect jumped out of the car and took off on foot.

"It lasted a total of three to four minutes," Lt. Paul Burroughs with Prince George police said.

Burroughs added police do not know if the suspect was an inmate at the jail; the department is still searching for the suspect.

According to past reports released by the department, Prince George had two kidnappings in 2011 and none in 2012.

Between 2011 and 2012, aggravated assaulted decreased by 14 percent, from 22 incidents to 19, but picked up again in 2013, peaking at 24 incidents.

Frankenstein said it is hard to determine an exact cause for the rise in aggravated assaults or in counterfeiting and forgery, a type of property crime that increased by about 55 percent in 2013.

"It could have been the economy, but it is hard to pinpoint one thing," Frankenstein said.

Frankenstein added that Prince George's overall low rate of crime make the additional incidences of aggravated assaults look like a large percentage increase, even though there were only five additional incidences in 2013..

Sex offenses and auto theft both decreased by over 50 percent in 2013. In 2012, sex offenses increased by 38 percent from 26 to 36 incidents. That number was sliced in half in 2013, with 15 reported incidences.

Frankenstein attributed the decline in auto theft to the visibility of his officers.

The 29 percent increase in drug offenses this year surprised the chief the most.

"I was surprised, but not exactly disappointed. It is kind of a double-edged sword," Frankenstein said, explaining that the numbers could reflect better detection by his officers or a general rise of drug use in the community. "That was kind of a big jump. But I am a glass half-full person and like to think that the officers are getting better at detection."

The 29 percent climb in drug offenses in 2013 was steeper than the one seen the previous year when those type of offenses increased by nearly 22 percent, from 132 incidences in 2012 to 161 incidences in 2013.

"That number almost every year seems to be going up," Frankenstein said.

The police department's emphasis on working with the community coupled with the hard work of the Commonwealth's Attorney Office were the main reasons behind the overall crime decline, Frankenstein said.

County Administrator Percy Ashcraft agreed.

"We have such a community-oriented police force. That's why our crime statistics continue to go down. In some other localities, the crime statistics continue to go up or fluctuate. Ours moderate or go down," Ashcraft said.

Frankenstein pointed to the 50 reports of suspicious incidents that the department received from the exit 45 area as evidence of the department's community partnership.

"Folks are calling things in," Frankenstein said.

Looking forward, Frankenstein hopes to drive down violent crime by revitalizing the community's business-watch program and finding ways to make it even easier for people to report a crime.

"It's become so easy and anonymous to report a crime. We are trying to make it easier for the community," Frankenstein said.

- Vanessa Remmers may be reached at 804-722-5155 or vremmers@progress-index.com.

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